‘Don’t wait until it’s too late - buckle up’. That’s the message from police as they launch a campaign to ensure people wear a seatbelt.
Officers will be educating motorists and passengers, and enforcing the law at numerous locations across North Yorkshire over the coming weeks.
They will also be outside schools to offer advice to parents about child seats and ensure seatbelts are being worn.
Schools are also teaching children about the importance of wearing one with a special campaign aimed at pupils, provided by road safety experts THINK!
Police are carrying out vehicle checks and patrols at strategic points across the county to stop vehicles if occupants are not wearing seatbelts, or wearing them incorrectly.
Those caught breaking the law can be fined up to £500.
It comes as data shows young drivers and passengers aged 17 to 34 are least likely to wear a seatbelt, despite having the highest accident rate. People are also less likely to wear one on shorter journeys.
Sergeant Tim Wilson, who is leading the campaign for North Yorkshire Police, said:
“Despite it having been law for decades, we still encounter people every day in North Yorkshire who choose not to wear a seatbelt.
“Sadly, we also see the consequences first-hand – horrific injuries and fatalities which could so easily have been avoided.
“So our message to motorists and passengers is simple – don’t wait until it’s too late and you get fined or you’re hurt in a collision. Buckling up takes a couple of seconds and could prevent injuries that last a lifetime.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s only a short journey. The consequences are the same, and so is the law.
“It’s something we’re determined to tackle, to reduce casualties in North Yorkshire.”
Failing to wear a seatbelt is classed as one of the ‘fatal 5’ – the five biggest contributory factors in road casualties.
Occupants who don’t wear a seatbelt are 30 times more likely to be ejected from a vehicle if it crashes and twice as likely to die. They also risk injuring or killing other passengers, due to the momentum of the human body during crashes.
North Yorkshire Police enforces no-seatbelt offences 365 days a year but the campaign, which runs until mid-June, aims to highlight the issue to drivers and passengers, educate them on the dangers and uses enhanced resources to target offenders.
More information about the law around seatbelts for drivers, children and other passengers, and exemptions, is available from https://www.gov.uk/seat-belts-law
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